VA could replace FAA in Palm Coast

Negotiations are under way between the property owner — Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University -- and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

TONY HOLTSTAFF WRITER

PALM COAST — A training center vacated last week by the Federal Aviation Administration is ready for its next tenant, one that could lure even more jobs, students and visitors to the area. Negotiations are under way between the property owner — Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University -- and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Representatives from the VA could sign on the dotted line in a matter of weeks, said Embry-Riddle President John Johnson."We're having discussions with the VA and they're looking at possibly moving there," Johnson said. "People are visiting the facility and we're still negotiating some of the details ... We should know something in a month."The facility, named the Center for Management and Executive Leadership, has nearly 200 rooms, eight classrooms, an outdoor basketball court and a swimming pool. It is nestled in the trees at 4500 Palm Coast Parkway, a short distance east of Interstate 95."The bones of the building are still in pretty good shape," said Johnson. Administrators at Embry-Riddle said VA representatives recently toured the property. The university's chief financial officer, Eric Weekes, said a VA deputy director was among the visitors. For more than 15 years, the training center was a place where air traffic controllers and other FAA employees from across the country flocked to learn how to become managers. If the deal with the VA is completed, the campus will be used as the agency's Law Enforcement Training Center. Flagler County Administrator Craig Coffey said the FAA's relocation was a significant loss to the local economy -- about 100 jobs. If the VA deal is signed, not only could those jobs be replaced but the county could see a net gain, he said. Additionally, FAA trainees typically stayed at the Palm Coast training center for days or weeks at a time. Recruits for the VA would stay considerably longer, said Coffey. There also would be more students. "On average, we could have 3,000 or 4,000 students per year staying there," he said. By comparison, the FAA had about 2,000 students staying at the center per year, according to the county."There is also the possibility of overflow and those students would be staying at hotels," Coffey continued. "Families would visit and eat at the local restaurants ... There is the potential of more people staying here and learning the area better, which could mean some of them may move here."For now, the VA's Law Enforcement Training Center remains in Little Rock, Ark. The VA Basic Police Officer course is taught there along with various other security officer courses ranging from basic to advanced, according to its website. Representatives from the VA did not respond to media questions Friday. Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon said he also was hopeful the VA would bring more jobs to the area compared with its predecessor if a deal is made.The county gave city officials an opportunity to pitch the VA on the benefits of relocating its training center to Palm Coast. City Councilman Bill McGuire, a retired U.S. Marine, was among those who sold the city as "friendly to veterans," said Landon. Coffey said the classroom side of the training would take place in Palm Coast, but driving courses and firearm ranges would be held elsewhere in the county, which is why his office took the lead in recruiting the VA. As for the FAA's presence in Flagler, the agency's management training classes were relocated to Oklahoma City but a dozen FAA employees moved last month into some office space at the Flagler County Airport. Airport Director Roy Sieger said the FAA staffers who remain in Flagler handle the program schedule for the FAA's leadership classes at the academy in Oklahoma City. They will be using the space at the airport temporarily and a new, permanent and fully staffed FAA training center in Flagler remains a possibility, he said. Bud Murphy, who was deputy director of instruction at the FAA center in the mid-1990s, said those who lived and trained at the Palm Coast campus took advantage of the "wellness lifestyle" that was encouraged there. "I'd still like to see it be used as a training center," said Murphy. "I think it's a great facility."